Gay groups angered as heterosexual men marry to win rugby trip

Two men got married in New Zealand this morning and people aren't happy about it.

Heterosexuals Travis McIntosh and Matt McCormick tied the knot on Friday morning as part of a radio competition to win tickets to the Rugby World Cup. The "best mates" got hitched at Eden Park stadium in Auckland before a crowd of 60 family members and friends, with tens of thousands listening live.

But the stunt has prompted a rare union between gay rights groups and social conservatives, who have both condemned the sham marriage - for very different reasons.

Alex Greenwich, independent MP for Sydney and former convener of Australian Marriage Equality, said "all sides" of the marriage equality debate would be understandably upset.

"It essentially makes a mockery of marriage. Marriage is a really important institution about love and commitment and it's sad to see that there are people who are making a joke out of that," he said.

"Gay and lesbian people are fighting for the right to marry in Australia and have been fighting for the right in New Zealand, and it's because they take marriage extremely seriously, and the commitments and responsibilities that come with that. Here are two straight guys making a joke of that, and that's deeply concerning."

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Shelly Argent, a spokesperson for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said the stunt was in poor taste.

"This is two straight men who have done a wonderful job of trivialising marriage on their own," she said. "I hope it takes them quite a while to get the marriage annulled."

"Not here to insult anyone": Best mates Travis McIntosh and Matt McCormick married in Auckland on Friday morning. Photo: TheEdge.co.nz

New Zealand legalised gay marriage in 2013, and approximately one-third of the subsequent ceremonies have involved Australian couples.

Bob McCoskrie, director of the conservative NZ lobby group Family First, said condemnation of the radio stunt by gay rights groups was ironic.

"This competition makes a mockery of marriage, but so did the redefining of marriage," he said. He described gay matrimony as "an arrogant act of cultural vandalism".

The "Love You Man" contest, run by youth FM station The Edge, saw more than 200 "bromances" enter for their chance to see New Zealand play England at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The competition, open only to heterosexual males, has divided opinion since it was first announced. Master of ceremonies James McOnie, a television presenter, reportedly acknowledged the controversy and called the whole thing "a bit weird".

"It's just a couple of genuine mates willing to go the full 80. That's a rugby term, not a position in the Kama Sutra", he joked at the wedding, according to website Gay NZ. He reportedly noted the happy couple would "come together in marriage but not in other ways".

Mr McCormick, 24, told the Otago Daily Times his friendship with Mr McIntosh, 23, began when the pair met at Pirates Rugby Club in Dunedin when he was aged six. He said both families were supportive of their decision to wed.

"They're backing us 100 per cent," he said. "We are not here to insult anyone. We are here to do our own thing and travel our own path."

And not all gay and lesbian commentators in Australia rushed to condemn the stunt. Some argued it was a welcome development in the decline of marriage as an important institution, while Rodney Croome, national director of Australian Marriage Equality, said he was not treating it particularly seriously.

"Heterosexual couples have used marriage to win competitions for years, just look at The Bachelor and Farmer Wants a Wife," Mr Croome said.

"But it's still disappointing that straight people are enjoying New Zealand's equality laws, while committed Australian couples can only watch from across the Tasman."